Earthly Stories 



with 



Heavenly Meanings 



J, W. BOTHEM 









Class Jl\ 

BookJ&W 

Gqp#tN?- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



A book of new and original illustr ations* 

Earthly Stories 

with 

Heavenly Meanings 

BY J. W. BOTHEM, 

Traveling Salesman. 



"With Introduction by 
REV. D. M. STEARNS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
James M. Armstrong, Publisher, 718 Sansom Street. 

1Q02. 






THE Ui 

i Recsived 

nnpvniOHT ENTRY - 



Copyright, 1902, 
By J. W. Bothem, 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 5 

The Author's Experience 9 

The Chess Player 13 

Old Painting Restored 15 

A Hut on the Ohio River 16 

One Room Reserved 18 

Living On Scraps 19 

"Jesus, Keep Me Good." 20 

Living On Crumbs 22 

The Costlier Watch 24 

Partial Deafness 25 

Elevated or Surface Car — Which? 26 

Sailing Along the Coast 29 

Occasional Glimpses 31 

Help Yourself to Fruit 33 

The "Rubbish" Room 35 

Photographing in the Dark 37 

Mammoth Cave — Star Chamber 39 

Hudson River at Night; or, Treasures of 

Darkness 42 

Consumptives in Mammoth Cave 45 

"Give Me What You Think's Best" 47 

"Don't Beg So Much." 49 

A Speedy Answer 51 

A Visit to the U. S. Mint 54 

"My Money's Not in That Bank." 56 

"Check Your Baggage." 58 

"I'm an Heir to a Large Estate." 59 

Setting Traps 61 

Missed the "Empire State." 64 

His First Sermon 66 

Buying Up Opportunities 68 

The Golden Rule on First of April 71 



4 Contents. 

"They're All Mine." 72 

Jesus a "Way-Shower." 74 

The Western Union Time Ball 78 

"I Want Mamma" 80 

"The Water Gets Fresher" 81 

Afraid of His Father 83 

"The Half Has Not Been Told" 85 

The Attic Room S7 

Snow on the Stairs 88 

Everlasting Arms 90 

Reaching the Summit 91 

"Let's Nestle" 93 

The Perfumed Cork. 95 

Love Constraineth 06 

"Mamma's Here, Darling." 97 

Drifting Apart 99 

Steam Enough To Start With 102 

On the Wrong Boat 104 

I Can't Answer Yes 107 

The Agnostic's Voyage 109 

Beyond the Gate in 

Mammoth Cave — Bottomless Pit 114 

Next Station Heaven 116 

Papa's Coming Home 117 



INTRODUCTION. 



How manifestly true it is that the 
things of God are hidden from the wise 
and prudent, and revealed unto babes. 
The writer of these telling illustrations, 
with whom I have from time to time had 
fellowship on the train while journeying 
to and from my Bible Classes, and whom 
I have known as "Isaiah liv: 1 1," since 
he first told me the story of his conver- 
sion, would love to be known as one of 
God's little ones, who believe His every 
word. He has told me some of the inci- 
dents herein related, and I have used 
them many a time and seen the blessing 
of God upon them. 

We know how the Holy Spirit, 
through the prophets and through our 
Lord Jesus Christ, has drawn upon 
nature to illustrate the truths He would 
impress upon us: trees and plants are 
used to represent people, and our Lord 
speaks of Himself as a door, and a vine, 
and a green tree, Judges ix: 7-15; Psalm 



6 Introduction. 

i: 3; Isaiah lxi: 3; Matt, xv: 13; John x: 
7, 9; xv : 1 ; Luke xxiii: 31. He reproved 
Israel by saying, "The ox knoweth its 
owner and the ass its master's crib, but 
Israel doth not know, My people doth 
not consider." "Yea, the stork in the 
heavens knoweth her appointed times; 
and the turtle and the crane and the swal- 
low observe the time of their coming; but 
My people know not the judgment of the 
Lord." "How often would I have gath- 
ered thy children together, even as a hen 
gathereth her chickens under her wings, 
and ye would not," Isaiah i: 3; Jer. viii: 
7; Matt, xxiii: 37. The first great re- 
demption lesson in Scripture is seen in 
the coats of skins provided by the shed- 
ding of blood of innocent animals, which 
typified the Lamb of God, by whose 
blood alone sin can be taken away, and 
by whose sacrifice the garments of salva- 
tion and the robe of righteousness are 
provided, Genesis iii: 21; Isaiah lxi: 10. 
The future glory of the redeemed is set 
forth in the cherubim placed in the 
garden of Eden after man's expulsion 



Introduction. 7 

therefrom, Genesis iii: 24; Ezekiel x: 20; 
Rev. v: 9, 10. 

Happy are those who, like the author 
of this book, have anointed eyes and ears 
to see God and hear Him everywhere, at 
all times, and in all things. 

D. M. Stearns. 
Germantozvn, Phila., Pa., 
May 8th, 1901. 



THE AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCE. 



I am known in some places by the 
name of 'Tsaiah liv: n." This is how it 
came about. When a lad of fourteen, I 
gave my heart to God, and was baptized 
in an old mill pond one second of Decem- 
ber. For about fourteen or fifteen years, 
I was active in church work, became 
superintendent of a Sunday school, etc. 
At the age of twenty-eight, I re- 
ceived a business promotion which 
largely increased my income, and, like 
multitudes of others, in the day of pros- 
perity I forgot God. About ten years 
after I had no position, was far away from 
God, and sin had made sad havoc with 
my life. 

One day, going down John Street, 
New York, where they hold a business 
men's noon day prayer meeting, I 
stopped in to get rested. The voice of 
God spoke to me and made me so miser- 
able, on account of my sinning, that I 
made a resolve never to go to the place 
again, nor to any other religious meeting. 



io The Author's Experience. 

The next day I found myself there again, 
made the same resolution, only to break 
it three days after. How wretched I felt 
that day in that meeting! I went across 
the ferry to my home in Jersey City, or 
to a place I called "home" — no wife or 
children there. I climbed two pairs of 
stairs and entered the room under con- 
viction of sin; lonely, miserable, hopeless. 
On a stand in one of the rooms lay a 
large family Bible. I opened it, let it fall 
open where it would, and there I saw 
first of all these words, Isaiah liv: 1 1, "O, 
thou afflicted, tossed with tempest and 
not comforted," and I said, "Well, that 
just describes me; I wonder what fol- 
lows?" and I read, "Behold, I will lay thy 
stones with fair colors, and lay thy foun- 
dations with sapphires, and I will make 
thy windows of agates, and thy gates of 
carbuncles, and all thy borders of plea- 
sant stones." 

God knew my language. Some are 
fond of flowers — I like them, but not 
passionately. The same is true of 
paintings. But I have an intense liking 



The Author's Experience. n 

for beautiful stones. I go to the 
Museum of Natural History in New 
York and spend hours in the room 
set apart for beautiful and precious 
stones. God knew this, and let me open 
to these precious words, that so appealed 
to me. I felt a hope springing up in my 
heart, and kneeling down by an old 
lounge, I commenced to tell Him how 
afflicted and tossed with tempest I was; 
when, like the prodigal's father, He took 
me up in His arms and kissed away the 
guilt, drove away the gloom, and sent 
me out to build a brighter home than I 
had ever known before. Surely He has 
made my "windows of agates and gates 
of carbuncles." 

Right here I feel like adding that one 
day I was reading the new version of 
Isaiah, and turned to my favorite verses, 
to see if they had been changed. To my 
delight, I read, instead of "windows of 
agates," "I will make thy pinnacles of 
rubies" How I shouted! And He is 
keeping that word to me, too. Halle- 
lujah! 



Earthly Stories 

with 

Heavenly Meanings. 



THE CHESS PLAYER. 



Years ago Paul Morphy was the 
champion chess player of the world. A 
friend of his one day invited him to come 
and look at a valuable painting he had 
just purchased. It was called, 'The 
Chess Player," and represented Satan 
playing chess with a young man, the 
stake being the man's soul. The game 
had reached the stage where it was the 
young man's move; but he was check- 
mated. There was no move he could 
make that would not mean defeat for him, 
and the strong feature of the picture was 
the look of awful despair that was on 
the man's face as he realized his soul was 
lost, and the grin that was on Satan's face 
as he saw his victory. 



14 Earthly Stories 

Morphy studied the picture for a time 
(he knew more about chess than the 
artist who painted the picture), and then 
called for a chess hoard and men. Plac- 
ing them in exactly the same position as 
they were in the painting, he said, "III 
take the young man's place and make 
the move," and he made the move that 
would have set the young man free. 

When I heard this story, I thought it 
was just like my life. In the game of life 
I was worsted. It was my move, but 
death was in every direction. I was in 
despair, when I saw One come on the 
scene who knew all about my life, and I 
recognized the only One who could help. 
I turned the game over to him, He made 
the move that set me free. 

"He came to preach deliverance to the cap- 
tives," and to save them "who sit in the 
shadow of death, being bound in affliction and 



with Heavenly Meanings. 15 

OLD PAINTING RESTORED. 



My employer said to me one day, 

"What a lucky fellow that L is. He 

recently saw a picture covered with cob- 
webs and dirt, which he bought for a 
mere trifle. It did not appear to have 
any value. When cleaned, it proved to 
be the work of a master and of great 
value, so that he was immediately after 
offered a large sum for it." 

I thought of the time I was in the 
devil's second hand shop; I cannot un- 
derstand what God ever saw in me that 
was of value, but He bought me, not at 
a low figure — the price was His own Son. 
He has put me in the hands of an expert 
cleaner, and I expect to hang in the 
gallery of heaven one of these days, a 
wonder for adoring angels. 

"He brought me out of an horrible pit, out 
of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock." 
"He hath put a new song in my mouth." 

As some one has uniquely put it, "He 
took me out of the mire and put me in 
the choir." 



1 6 Earthly Stories 



A HUT ON THE OHIO RIVER. 



Sailing on the Ohio River from Louis- 
ville to Cincinnati one summer day years 
ago, I noticed on the banks a lot of huts, 
each chained to a tree fifteen or twenty 
feet up the bank. I said to one of the 
deck hands, "Why do these men have 
their huts chained to the trees?" He re- 
plied, "You know that while the river is 
very low just now, in the spring it some- 
times overflows its banks, because of the 
freshets, and if the huts were not chained 
fast to the trees, they would float off 
down the river and be lost." I looked 
and saw that the bank rose fifty to one 
hundred feet above where the huts stood, 
and I wondered why they did not build 
further up. They seemed to be "squat- 
ters," and they might as well build higher 
— it certainly can't be pleasant to live out 
on the muddy waters of the Ohio River 
for weeks, waiting for the floods to sub- 
side. And then I wondered why Chris- 
tians built so near the river of sin that 



with Heavenly Meanings. 17 

every wave of temptation swept them out 
on the filthy tide. 

I was using this illustration in a meet- 
ing once, and at its close a man came to 
me and said, 'Til tell you why those men 
build so low. I used to live in that sec- 
tion. You know, when the freshets 
come that wash their huts out on the 
river, they also bring down the river from 
the farms above farming utensils, chicken 
coops, with chickens in them, etc. These 
men stand at the door of their huts with 
iong rakes and rake in these coops and 
sell the chickens, and thus tide them over 
the hard times." And I said, I wonder 
if Christians build low because they know 
a dance or a theatre party will float down 
once in a while, and if they were higher 
up the bank they could not take these 
things in? 

"If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those 
things which are above," Col. Hi: 1. 



1 8 Earthly Stories 

ONE ROOM RESERVED. 



At one time in my life, I hired a house 
from a man who up to the time I rented 
it had lived there alone. I moved my 
furniture in, supposing, of course, he 
would let me occupy the entire house. 
After my furniture had been moved in, 
I found that he had reserved for himself 
one small room. I objected to this, and 
after some discussion, told him that un- 
less he moved out, I would. He refused 
to go, so I moved out. 

For years after my conversion, I had 
one room in my life the key of which I 
had not given up to the Holy Spirit. I 
wanted that room and held it for months 
after He had urged me to move out. 
How I fought to keep possession, but 
one blessed night I gave Him the key, 
and since that time He has had full pos- 
session from cellar to attic. How I have 
wished I had yielded sooner. 

"To obey is better than sacrifice," I Samuel 
xv : 22. 

"I no longer live, but Christ liveth in me," 
Gal. ii: 20. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 19 

LIVING ON SCRAPS. 



When a boy, I clerked in a grocery 
store in a country town. One of my 
customers was an old man whom they 
told me was worth $100,000, and had no 
one in the world to care for but him- 
self, and yet he'd buy scrapings from the 
butter tubs at ten cents a pound, when 
butter was thirty cents a pound. One 
day he came in and said, "It cost me 
$1.55 to live last week, and I can't afford 
to spend more than $1.50; haven't you 
got some scrapings you can sell for eight 
cents?" And I scraped him up two and 
a half pounds, putting in a little more of 
the wood. 

I used to think he was very foolish, 
and that if I was worth as much as he 
was, I'd spend more than $1.50 a week. 
For years I lived on less than $1.50 per 
week spiritually! But I have found that 
my Father is rich, and I have been draw- 
ing largely ever since. 

"His allowance was a continual allowance, 
given him of the king," 2 Kings xxv: 30. 



Earthly Stories 
"JESUS; KEEP ME GOOD." 



One night, when my youngest 
daughter was about four years old, her 
mother, in kissing her good-night, said 
to her, "Darling, if you are so naughty 
to-morrow as you have been to-day, I 
will have to put you to bed without a 
good-night kiss." If she had been 
threatened with what is usually consid- 
ered severe punishment, she could not, I 
think, have felt worse, for she was a very 
affectionate child, and valued highly the 
kiss with which she was always put to 
bed. In the morning, when the two sis- 
ters had finished dressing, she asked 
them if they would not leave her alone. 
They did, but curious to know the reason 
she had made this unusual request, 
looked through the crack of the partially 
closed door, and saw her on her knees, 
and heard her pray, "Jesus, make me a 
good girl to-day. I want mamma to kiss 
me good-night." Jesus kept her good 
and she had mamma's good-night kiss. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 21 

That's the secret of all good living — 
the child-like prayer, "Jesus, keep me 
good." Let us pray that constantly, and 
we will have the Father's good-night kiss. 
Yes! have it all the while. 

"We have no might against this great com- 
pany, but our eyes are upon Thee," 2 Chron. 
xx : 12. 



22 Earthly Stories 

LIVING ON CRUMBS. 



One very stormy day in winter, I 
decided it would be useless to try to sell 
any goods, as no one would care to look 
at samples on such a day, and so I stayed 
at home. 

Looking out of the back windows, I 
saw a lot of sparrows trying to get some- 
thing to eat. They were having a hard 
time of it, the snow having covered up 
their natural source of supply. Going 
out into the yard, I swept off a part of 
the fence and spread some crumbs, which 
the birds came and greedily ate. I went 
out again and again with the crumbs, and 
the sparrows increased in number, until 
sixty or seventy sparrows were gathered. 
I said, I'll do the handsome thing with 
these birds; so I went into the house, 
took a loaf of bread, cut it in halves, and 
going out, I placed one-half on a picket, 
and the other half on another picket ten 
feet away. 

Taking my place by the window, I said 
to myself, "Now they will have a feast." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 23 

But they didn't. They seemed to think 
so large a supply was something in the 
nature of a trap. They stood perched on 
clothes line and wood shed, and looked 
at the loaves as if they were afraid of 
them. 

In about five minutes one little fellow 
lighted in the centre of one of the pieces 
and ate his fill. I watched about twenty 
minutes, and saw only about five or six 
sparrows get anything to eat after I had 
put on the larger supply. 

I have seen Christians who reminded 
me of these sparrows. They seem to eat 
the crumbs greedily and to be satisfied 
with a low order of living. They listen 
eagerly to teachers who only tell of a 
partial salvation, and seem afraid to grasp 
the larger truths of the Gospel, shrinking 
as if they were the loaves God has pro- 
vided in His Word. 

"He giveth meat in abundance," Job 
xxxvi: 31. 



24 Earthly Stories 

THE COSTLIER WATCH. 



We get what we believe for. When 
my oldest daughter was in her last term 
at the grammar school, I said to her, "If 
you graduate with highest honors, and 
read the Valedictory at the closing exer- 
cises at the school, I'll give you a watch." 
After a little time we received word from 
the principal that she had been appointed 
Valedictorian. I was not getting a large 
salary, and I had in my mind an inex- 
pensive chatelaine watch, such as some of 
her friends carried; but one day I over- 
heard her telling some of her school 
friends that "papa is going to give me a 
watch like Aunt Lizzie's." I knew that 
was an expensive timepiece, but imme- 
diately I said, "I'll get her a watch like 
her aunt's if I have to go without my 
lunch for a time to make up the differ- 
ence." 

Trust God, and He will give you the 
better watch every time. 

"According to your faith." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 25 

PARTIAL DEAFNESS, 



A friend of mine, who is partially deaf, 
told me of an experiment a doctor once 
tried, to restore his hearing. A liquid 
preparation was run into his ears, and for 
a little time he could hear the minor 
sounds, the singing of birds, the humming 
of insects, etc. He said he never could 
express the joy of that short hour, but 
then the effect of the liquid passed away, 
and he was deaf again. 

I thought of how for years in my 
Christian life I was partially deaf. In 
some warm prayer meeting I could hear 
the sounds that set my heart aglow with 
pleasure, but the effect was transient. 
One night I opened my life for the in- 
coming of the Holy Spirit, and He put a 
drop of Divine ether into my spiritual 
nature that set the joy bells ringing, and 
has made me conscious of an undertone 
of music that I never knew was in life 
before. The minor sounds, the whisper- 
ings of my Beloved as He hides me in the 
"secret places" — it is indeed blessed. 

"Mine ears hast Thou opened," Psalm xl: 6. 



26 Earthly Stories 



ELEVATED OR SURFACE CAR— 
WHICH? 



One day it was my privilege to read 
the message in the old John Street Busi- 
ness Men's Prayer Meeting. I spoke of 
the higher life. When the meeting was 
thrown open for testimony, a dear good 
brother rose and said, "There are two 
ways of going to Central Park, more than 
two, but certainly two: one is the Sixth 
Avenue Elevated, the other the Eighth 
Avenue horse car line. The leader seems 
to be travelling by the Sixth Avenue Ele- 
vated, I am going by the horse car line, 
but I will get there just the same." 

A few days after I had occasion to go 
to a village on Long Island, where I was 
to speak the following Sunday for a little 
church. I was to meet a brother, who 
was to accompany me to the place, at 
the Flatbush Avenue Station of the Long 
Island Railroad, at 3.25 P. M. 

It was very important that I get that 
train, so I started early, accompanied by 



with Heavenly Meanings. 27 

my daughter. When we had crossed 
Fulton Ferry, I looked at my watch and 
found we had over an hour in which to 
get to the station, so I said to my daugh- 
ter, "We've plenty of time to get there 
by the surface road, so we won't climb 
those high stairs to the elevated road, but 
take the electric cars." We did, and after 
going a few blocks, a heavy load of coal 
blocked our way, delaying us quite a 
while; then the car ahead of us became 
stalled, and so it went on, until, fearing 
we might be late, I looked at my watch, 
saw there remained only ten minutes r.o 
catch the train, with the station about 
three-fourths of a mile away. "Can you 
run?" I said to my daughter. She an- 
swered in the affirmative, and we started. 
Well, we did catch the train, passing 
through the gate just as it was about to 
be closed, and, tired out, I sank in the 
seat beside my friend, saying, "I've been 
running," to which he replied, "You look 
it." I didn't enjoy the trip much. 

On the Monday following, I was in 
John Street meeting again, and when the 



28 Earthly Stories 

meeting was opened for testimony, I rose, 
recounted what had been said in the 
meeting previously referred to, told them 
my experience in catching the train, and 
then said, "All who want to may travel 
the Christian life by surface lines; I 
choose to go by the elevated. I had a 
hard struggle to catch my train. I nar- 
rowly escaped missing it, and when I 
finally caught it, was so exhausted that 
the pleasure of the trip was spoiled." 

"And a highway shall be there, and a way, 
and it shall be called the way of holiness," 
Isaiah xxxv: 9. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 29 



SAILING ALONG THE COAST. 



Coming from Portland, Maine, on a 
steamer one night, we ran into a very 
severe storm. The waves broke through 
the sides of the vessel, and washed pas- 
sengers out of their state rooms, and few 
on board expected to see land again. 

We outrode the storm, and in the 
morning we asked the captain what he 
did when the storm came on. He re- 
plied, "You know that through the day 
we were sailing along the Massachusetts 
coast. When the storm came in its fury, 
I put the vessel out towards the open sea. 
It was our only hope of safety. Had we 
stayed near the coast, we should have 
been dashed against the rocks." 

For years in my Christian experience, 
I was sailing along the coast. Every 
storm of temptation dashed me against 
the rocks and well nigh wrecked me. 
One night, years ago, I threw out the last 
bit of cargo that kept me from sailing 
out into the deep water, and put out for 



30 Earthly Stories 

the open sea. Storms come, as before, 
but every one dashes me nearer the heart 
of God. 

"Launch out into the deep." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 31 

OCCASIONAL GLIMPSES. 



One August day, years ago, I was on 
the summit of Mt. Washington. I had 
heard of the wonderful view to be had 
there, but I found that all about me was 
thick clouds, and was much disappointed. 
The wind was blowing, however, and as 
the clouds were swept past, I looked 
eagerly for a rift through which I might 
catch a glimpse of the landscape below. 
The opportunity came, and for a few 
minutes I looked upon the most magnifi- 
cent scene it has ever been my privilege 
to witness. I saw the Connecticut River 
from its source to its mouth, with the 
lovely cities and villages that line its 
banks; and I remember saying over and 
over again, "Oh! how grand this is! 
How grand this is!" But in a very short 
time the clouds drifted over the scene, 
shutting out its beauty. Again a break, 
a few minutes of enjoyment, and then the 
dull gray of the clouds again; and so it 
was all the day. Perhaps altogether I 
had a half hour's enjoyment of the scene. 

Coming down the mountain that after- 



32 Earthly Stories 

noon, I heard one of the tourists say he 
had been on the summit of Mt. Washing- 
ton all day at one time, and not a cloud 
had obstructed his view of the valley. I 
wished I might have ascended some such 
day as that. 

And this all made me think of the dif- 
ferent phases of my Christian experience. 
Time was when I only caught occasional 
glimpses of the beauty of my Beloved; 
clouds separated us most of the time. I 
heard others talk of the constant sun- 
shine, and I wished I might know that 
experience. I asked God to reveal to me 
what kept me in the clouds so much of 
the time, and He showed me plainly that 
I had not made a complete surrender. 
I made it one memorable night, the 
clouds were dispelled, and while I have 
sometimes been in "heaviness," the 
clouds have never been so thick as to shut 
out my Saviour's face, nor to keep me 
from the vision of His beauty. 

"But we all with open face beholding as in 
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image, from glory to glory, even 
as by the Spirit of the Lord," 2 Cor. iii: 18. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 33 



HELP YOURSELF TO FRUIT. 



I once heard a man tell of walking- 
through the main street of Trenton, N. J., 
with a friend, when they saw a little boy 
looking wistfully at the contents of a fruit 
stand, kept by an Italian. My inform- 
ant's friend went to the boy and said, 
"You help yourself to the fruit and I'll 
pay for what you take." The boy simply 
looked at the man in astonishment. He 
repeated the offer, when the boy said, 
"Oh, no! the Italian would have me 
arrested." Not wishing to be balked in 
his charitable intention, the man said to 
the Italian, 'Tell the boy to take fruit; 
I'll pay you." The Italian, turning to the 
boy, said, "You help yourself; the man, 
he pay me." 

The boy, thus encouraged, filled his 
pockets, stuffed the fruit inside his coat, 
took off his hat and filled that. The man 
paid the Italian nearly two dollars for 
what the boy had taken. 

How many of us have heard others tell 



34 Earthly Stories 

of feeding on the choice fruits of Canaan 
and looked wistfully upon the luscious 
abundance, and yet when urged to par- 
take ourselves we have drawn back like 
the urchin spoken of, fearing they were 
not for us. We are so slow to learn that 
God does not place before us the fruits 
of the Spirit to taunt us. They are to 
partake of in abundance and all paid for. 

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace," 
etc. "Oh, that My people had hearkened 
unto Me. He should have fed them also with 
the finest of the wheat; and with honey out 
of the rock should I have satisfied them," 
Psalm lxxxi: 13, 16. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 35 



THE "RUBBISH" ROOM. 



Under the old Jewish economy, a ser- 
vant after serving seven years could 
decide whether to stay in service or go 
free. If he said, "I love my master; I will 
not go out free," he was that man's ser- 
vant forever. 

There is a time of decision like this, I 
think, in the life of every Christian — a 
time in which we are to say whether or 
no we are to be entirely the Lord's. 

I visited a friend who was building 
himself a house. He took me through 
the partially finished rooms, and told me 
what they were to be used for when fin- 
ished. "This is the dining room, this the 
parlor, this my son's room," etc., etc. 
Coming to a small room on the second 
floor, he said, "This is the Lord's room — 
my closet — dedicated to Him, a place 
where I can come to worship God." He 
was at the time living very close to Jesus, 
and I was glad it would be so he could 
have a room of this kind. 



36 Earthly Stories 

Months after, I visited him again; he 
was living in the house, now finished. 
During our conversation in the early part 
of my visit, he asked me to pray for him, 
for he felt that he was not living in the 
"secret place." I promised to do so. In 
the afternoon, he took me through the 
house again, that I might see how it 
looked now that it was finished. As we 
passed the little room that he said was 
to be dedicated to God, I pushed the door 
open and saw that it was filled with pieces 
of furniture there was no use for in other 
rooms. No place big enough for one to 
kneel. Sadly I turned away. Toward 
evening, we went out for a walk, and dur- 
ing that walk I said to him, "My brother, 
you asked me to pray for you; I'll do it; 
but haven't much hope my prayer will be 
answered until you clean out that room 
and use it for the purpose you first in- 
tended." 

"When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord 
thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it," Deut. 
xxiii: 21. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 



PHOTOGRAPHING IN THEDARK. 



I was in Philadelphia at the time the 
G. A. R. were holding their encampment. 
The city was handsomely decorated, the 
illumination by electricity being the finest 
I had ever seen. The City Hall, built 
as it is across Broad Street, had ropes of 
electric lights strung from the top of the 
Penn statue, 547 feet high, to each corner 
of the building, and shields and flags of 
different colors ornamented the front and 
sides. I was much interested in all this, 
but what interested me even more was an 
amateur photographer, whose camera 
stood in the centre of Broad Street, point- 
ing toward the City Hall. 

I said to the man, "Do you expect to 
get a good photograph of the City Hall 
at night?" "Yes," he said, "I will have 
to make a long exposure, about twelve 
minutes, but I'll get a good photo all 
right." I said, "I can understand how 
that might be possible, but one thing I 
can't understand is this — I see men and 



38 Earthly Stories 

women passing and repassing in front of 
your camera, and with the plate exposed 
as it is, I should think they would spoil 
your picture." "They would," he an- 
swered, "if it were daylight, but at night, 
when a long exposure is necessary, the 
objects that pass and repass quickly leave 
no impression on the plate." 

Standing right there on Broad Street 
that night, I lifted my heart to God and 
prayed, "O ! Lord, in this night of sin and 
sorrow, which we call life, keep my eyes 
fixed on Thee, and may the objects that 
pass between Thyself and me pass so 
quickly that they shall leave no impres- 
sion, but may I have on my heart a pho- 
tograph of Thee." 

"Looking unto Jesus." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 39 



MAMMOTH CAVE— STAR CHAM- 
BER. 



''Unto the upright there ariseth light in the 
darkness," Psalm cxii: 4. 

One February night, years ago, I 
visited Mammoth Cave. After being 
shown through a number of very inter- 
esting parts of that marvellous cavern, 
the guide brought us to a section which 
he said was the most interesting of all — 
the "Star Chamber." I looked about me 
but saw nothing of special interest. The 
stalagmites and stalachtites were not as 
brilliant as in some other parts, and cer- 
tainly not as large as they were in "Gothic 
Chapel," where they met together in the 
centre and formed great pillars, and I 
wondered why he had called this the most 
interesting part. 

It was a larger chamber certainly than 
any he had yet shown us, being perhaps 
150 feet in diameter, with a ceiling over 
160 feet high, but I looked in vain for 
beauty. The guide said to us, after a 



40 Earthly Stories 

little time, "Let me take your light," and 
we handed him our lanterns. He disap- 
peared with them into one of the side 
passages with which the cave abounds. 
We thought he was going to leave us in 
total darkness, when we heard his voice, 
sounding at a great distance, "Look up." 
We looked up, and there through the 
black gypsum roof of the cave projected 
crystals and he had concentrated the light 
of the lanterns and thrown their rays on 
the ceiling in such a way that they 
sparkled and glistened like real stars, so 
much so that the old gentleman who was 
with me said, "He can't fool me; we are 
in a part of the cave where there is a hole 
in the roof, and we are looking out into 
the clear starlit sky; you know it was a 
bright starlight night when we came in." 
I said, "Yes, I might believe that but for 
the fact that outside it was very cold, the 
thermometer registering ten degrees 
above zero, while here it is quite warm, 
the temperature never varying from sixty- 
eight degrees Fahrenheit." "That's so," 
he replied; "they are imitation stars. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 41 

Isn't it wonderful?" And indeed it was. 

Well, now, when he took our lights 
away, I might have said, "That's a queer 
way to show us beauty! Generally, when 
one is anxious to exhibit beautiful things, 
he turns on the gas or electric lights ; this 
man takes our lights away." But if he 
had not, we never could have seen the 
beauties of "Star Chamber," which, in- 
deed, is the most interesting part of Mam- 
moth Cave. 

God sometimes takes our lights away: 
position, reputation, something on which 
we are setting our affections, and when 
it seems as though He were goingto leave 
us in total darkness, we hear His voice 
saying, "Look up," and looking up, we see 
beauties of His love we never could have 
known had He not taken our lights away. 

"The hand of our God is upon all them for 
good that seek Him," Ezra viii: 22. 



42 Earthly Stories 



HUDSON RIVER AT NIGHT; or, 
TREASURES OF DARKNESS. 

Isaiah xlv: 3. 



I have sailed up the Hudson River very 
frequently — have viewed its beautiful 
scenery at all seasons of the year; have 
seen the hills and the mountains in the 
loveliness of their spring dress, also when 
covered by the many colored autumn 
foliage. But the one trip that I remem- 
ber with more pleasure than any other 
was one I took on a dark night. 

The boat leaves New York at six P.M., 
and I sat on deck while we sailed past the 
always interesting Palisades, on past 
Haverstraw, and just as we were about 
to enter what is probably the most pic- 
turesque part of the river, "the Southern 
Gate of the Highlands," darkness settled 
down. Rather sadly, I was about to 
leave the deck and go into the cabin, with 
the thought half expressed, "There's 
nothing more to see outside," when there 
suddenly flashed out a great bar of light 



with Heavenly Meanings. 43 

from the search light in the pilot house 
of the steamer, and with a feeling of plea- 
sant anticipation, I sat down again to en- 
joy this new delight. 

Hither and thither it flashed, revealing 
the beauties of either shore. Now flood- 
ing with light a house on the river bank, 
or up on the mountain side ; now circling 
with its radiance a boat on the river, 
lighting up the faces of the crew with 
greater clearness than the sun. Passing 
West Point, we heard the shout of a col- 
lege crew, and immediately the beam of 
light searched the river until a shell in 
which the crew sat, with oars erect, stood 
framed in a circle of light. The whole 
trip was so enjoyable that I decided when 
I want to give any of my friends a treat 
by taking them up the Hudson, I'll not 
choose a summer day, nor a moonlight 
night, but the darkest night I can find, 
and a trip on the steamer Adirondack. 

And the application. Sometimes in 
life, when it seems we have come to the 
end of a pleasant experience, when about 
us the darkness of failure in temporal 



44 Earthly Stories 

matters is settling, the blessed searchlight 
of God's love has suddenly flashed out 
over the gloom, and life has had beauties 
we had never seen, had the darkness not 
settled down. 

"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the 
darkness." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 45 



CONSUMPTIVES IN MAMMOTH 
CAVE. 



While going through Mammoth Cave, 
I noticed ruins of small huts about a mile 
from the entrance. I inquired of the 
guide as to what the huts had been used 
for. He said, "About ten years ago, a 
number of consumptives had these huts 
built here, and on their completion occu- 
pied them, supposing that, as the tem- 
perature was always the same, it would 
be a good place to recover their health." 
I said, "Did they find residence here bene- 
ficial?" to which he replied, "No. For 
while the fact that the temperature never 
varies from sixty-eight degrees Fahren- 
heit, would, everything else being equal, 
make it a desirable place for them, the fact 
that light had never penetrated into this 
gloomy place made it unhealthful as a 
place to live in; artificial light they had 
in plenty, but it needs the sun's rays to 
purify the air." 

And I thought, as a Christian, I must 



46 Earthly Stories 

not depend for my health on any man- 
rnade lights, but I must live constantly 
in the presence of the Sun of righteous- 
ness. 

"He that followeth Me shall not walk in 
darkness." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 47 



"GIVE ME WHAT YOU THINK'S 
BEST." 



At one time I was pleading with God 
for something that to me at least seemed 
important. I coaxed and coaxed. At 
night and morning I would urge God to 
give me just that thing. Soon I was 
conscious of spiritual leanness. I grew 
restless, and somewhat disturbed, because 
God did not give me what I wanted. 

While in this frame of mind, I heard 
a young lady, who is a teacher in a 
kindergarten, tell of how, the day before, 
she had gone to her school with some 
fruit for the children, and of how she put 
her hands, filled with fruit, behind her 
and asked two of the girls to choose 
which hand they would take. One took 
"left," the other "right" — one got an 
orange, the other a banana. Filling her 
hands again, she went to two little tots, 
the smallest in her class, and said, with 
the fruit still hidden, "Which will you 
take?" when the smallest one said, "Bof 



48 Earthly Stories 

of 'em." The teacher told her that was 
selfish, and after a little further talk, said 
again, "Which one will you take?" The 
little eyes went up to the teacher's face 
as she answered, "Oo div me the one Oo 
think's best for me." 

Immediately, as I heard this story, 
there came over my heart the spirit of this 
little girl, and I said, "Father, never mind 
about what I choose, you give me what 
you think's best for me." 

"Not my will, but Thine." 



zuith Heavenly Meanings. 49 



'DON'T BEG SO MUCH." 



In the station at Washington, D. C, 
I was sitting in a train waiting for it to 
start, when a gentleman, with his wife 
and child, came into the train. After 
rinding seats for the wife and daughter, 
the father turned to leave the car, and as 
he did so, I heard the little girl say, ''Now 
papa, don't forget what you promised 
me." "No, darling, I won't," said the 
father. Outside the car, he came and 
stood by the window to talk with his dear 
ones, and the little girl said again, as she 
saw him there, "Papa, don't forget your 
promise," and he said, "No, I won't for- 
get." Again in a few minutes she re- 
peated the words, to which he replied in 
the same way, and just as the train moved 
out of the station, the little daughter put 
her head out of the window and said 
again, "Now, papa, don't forget." The 
father, this time a little impatiently, I 
thought, said, "Oh, don't beg so much; 
of course, I'll remember." 



50 Earthly Stories 

While we are taught importunity in 
prayer, I wondered if sometimes we did 
not seem to God to be begging too much 
for blessings He has promised and will 
never forget to give. And I believe I 
was taught a lesson by the Spirit through 
the conversation I heard that day. 

"But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 
For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, 
driven with the wind and tossed," James i: 16. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 51 



A SPEEDY ANSWER. 



For years after I had returned to God 
and had set up the family altar, there was 
a member of my household who did not 
join in the family worship and who would 
not even kneel, until I asked her out of 
courtesy to the rest, to do that much. 
This was a sister for whom I had long 
prayed, but perhaps not so definitely as 
I should. 

One day, a few years ago, I was in a 
Long Island village one Sunday after- 
noon, and about twenty of us were joined 
in prayer in a little church. 

All prayed but one, and each asked 
God for the conversion of some loved 
one, often mentioning them by name. 

I prayed in just these words, "Dear 
Lord, Thou knowest who is on my heart. 
I ask Thee that just now while I am pray- 
ing Thou wilt go to that one and convict 
her mightily of sin. And now, because I 
am sure I have met conditions, I am 



52 Earthly Stories 

abiding in Thee, and Thy words are abid- 
ing in me, and because Thou hast never 
failed to meet conditions, it must be that 
the prayer is answered, and I thank Thee 
for it before rising from my knees." 

I reached home the Monday following, 
went into the parlor, where I saw my 
sister sitting with her face aglow. She 
said, "I've got something to tell you," 
to which I answered, "I thought you 
would have." She then told me she was 
converted — of how, sitting in a meeting 
on Sunday afternoon, with no more 
thought of being a Christian than she had 
for years — how all at once an awful con- 
viction of sin came over her, and she felt 
she must be saved and saved then. She 
went forward and asked those in charge 
of the meeting to pray for her, which they 
did, and she was saved. I said, "What 
time was it; did you notice?" "Yes," 
said she; "I chanced to look at the large 
clock in the room as I went up the aisle, 
and it was just half past four; to which 
I replied, "When I rose from my knees 



with Heavenly Meanings. 53 

in Blue Point, L. I., it was just half past 
four, for I looked at my watch." 

"Then inquired he of them the hour when 
he began to amend, and they said unto him, 
Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left 
him; and the father knew that it was at the 
same hour in which Jesus said, Thy son liv- 
eth," John iv: 53. 



54 Earthly Stories 



A VISIT TO THE U. S. MINT. 



A friend of mine received a letter from 
a friend in San Francisco, telling of his 
visit to the U. S. Mint in that city. He 
was acquainted with the cashier of the 
Assay Office, who invited him to in- 
spect that part of the institution. 

After being there for some time viewing 
almost countless wealth in gold and sil- 
ver, the visitor remarked to the cashier, 
"I should think you would be afraid of 
robbers here; it seems to me it would be 
a very easy matter for a man to hold a 
pistol to your head while others would 
seize the treasure." No sooner had he 
uttered the words, than a number of 
uniformed men had their hands on him 
and he was being roughly hustled out of 
the place, when the cashier raised his 
hand as a signal to stop, and said, "That's 
enough ; I only wanted to show him I was 
amply protected." He had only touched 
a button, and the guards, who were al- 



zvith Heavenly Meanings. 55 

ways near, though unseen, instantly 
responded. 

When tempted, a signal to the throne 
will call about the tempted one all the 
hosts of God. 

"The angel of the Lord encampeth round 
about them that fear Him, and delivereth 
them." 



56 Earthly Stories 

"MY MONEY'S NOT IN THAT 
BANK." 



One day during the semi-panic of 1893, 
I brought to my employer an "Extra," 
containing an account of the failure of 
three banks in Kansas City. He said, 
"That doesn't effect me; my money isn't 
in Kansas City." The next day I told 
him of the failure of a bank in Brooklyn. 
He said, "My money isn't in that bank." 
The next day I came in with the news of 
the failure of a New York bank. "Is it 
the Garfield?" he said. I answered, 
"No;" and he said, "Well, I won't worry 
until the bank in which I keep my 
account fails." 

Soon after this, I was called to pass 
through a number of trials. One thing 
after another failed, but I kept on saying, 
as each crash came, "My money isn't in 
that bank, and until the bank fails in 
which my treasure is, I'll not fret." 

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 
neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor 



with Heavenly Meanings. 57 

of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield 
no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the 
fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the 
God of my salvation," Hab. iii: 17, 18. 



58 Earthly Stories 



"CHECK YOUR BAGGAGE." 



When I first started out with my 
sample case, as travelling salesman, I 
used to take the case in the car with me, 
and almost crowd myself out of the seat 
to give it room. Eve found a better 
way — I check my baggage, and when I 
reach a city where I want to use my sam- 
ples, I hand in my check to the baggage 
master, and he gives me the case. It's 
a much better way. 

One day I felt I had been carrying a 
lot of care and trouble around with me, 
and I remembered I carried about with 
me a check that read, "Casting all your 
care upon Him, for He careth for you." 
I checked my baggage — remembering 
that it was good for all my care, and 
knowing I was likely to get more, I kept 
the check and day by day I check my 
baggage, and will not give up my check 
until I get on the other side, and then I 
guess it will be a case of "lost baggage." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 59 



"I'M AN HEIR TO A LARGE 
ESTATE." 



Standing on the platform of a railroad 
station one day, waiting for a train, I felt 
a touch on my shoulder, and turned, ex- 
pecting to see a friend — an acquaintance 
certainly. To my surprise, I found an 
entire stranger. He said, "I had a queer 
experience this morning." I asked what 
it was, and he said, "A lawyer met me 
who told me I was one of the heirs to a 
large estate now being settled in New 
York." And then he went on and told 
me particulars. 

I took the train, and sat there thinking. 
"Now, that man was so greatly pleased 
over the fact that he is an heir to an 
earthly estate that he is going around tell- 
ing entire strangers, while we, as Chris- 
tians, many of us, at least, professing to 
be heirs to an estate of infinitely greater 
value than any earthly estate can be, yet 
hesitate not only to tell strangers about 
it, but our friends." 



60 Earthly Stories 

Let us tell it. We will find people 
everywhere anxious to hear. I talk with 
all classes and conditions of men — with 
a noted general in the United States 
Army; with the bootblack who blacks my 
boots, and everywhere I find men anx- 
ious to hear. I talked with my heart all 
aglow to a saloon keeper in Altoona, Pa., 
for a half hour, and then said, "I'll have 
to go now; my train is about due." He 
grasped my hand warmly, and said, "I 
wish your train was two hours late." 

"Give a portion to seven and also to eight," 
Eccles. xi: 2. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 61 

SETTING TRAPS. 



"Instant in season and out of season." 
I have a way of setting what I call my 
'traps." Travelling as I have for years, 
I have noticed when one enters a car in 
every seat of which at least one person is 
seated, he or she is apt to go along the 
aisle until a seat is reached in which the 
occupant has left a clear space. I fre- 
quently arrange the space by my side in 
such a way as to make it look as though 
any one was welcome to occupy it, then 
ask God to send some one along to whom 
I may talk about Jesus. I call it a trap. 
Evil men set traps, may not God's chil- 
dren do the same? 

It might be interesting to tell of many 
conversations I have had in this way. I 
will tell of one at least. Coming from 
Manchester, N. H., to Boston, one day, 
a gentleman, well dressed and of fine 
appearance, took the seat by my side. 
At first I thought it would be hard to 
approach him, but I find that "out of the 



62 Earthly Stories 

fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh." 
and I was soon in conversation with him 
on religious subjects. He told me he 
had not been to a church for years, and 
did not know what the inside of a Bible 
looked like. He told me also of his life, 
of how he had made his money, and 
other things he said he never would have 
mentioned had I not been a stranger and 
would probably not see him again. 

Among other things, he said he "hated 
hypocrites." I told him I guessed Jesus 
did not like them, although I was sure He 
loved even them, for He loved all sinners, 
•and loved such men as He had just de- 
scribed himself as being. Then I told 
him of the woman taken in adultery, 
whom the Jews took to Jesus, of how the 
Saviour stooped and wrote on the sand, 
and how He said, "Let him that is with- 
out sin cast the first stone at her." I told 
him the story word for word, for I knew 
it that way, and did he listen? Yes, as 
though his life depended on it. As 
eagerly as any child ever listened to a 
fairy story. And when I came to the 



with Heavenly Meanings. 63 

words, "Neither do I condemn thee," he 
said, "Did Jesus say that?" "Yes," I 
said. And then I told him of how, as a 
wretched sinner, with no hope in this 
world or any other, I crept to His dear 
feet, and heard Him say, 'Neither do I 
condemn thee." 

He took from his pocket a card, on 
which was his name and address (which 
a few minutes before, while telling of his 
life, he said he would not reveal under any 
circumstances), and he said, "If you ever 
come to Boston again, I want you to 
write me, and I'll come to hear you talk 
if you talk on Boston Common or in a 
church. I want to hear more of this 
wonderful story." 

As we parted in the Union Station, he 
said, "My friend, my life will be different 
from this day because I met you." 

"Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters," 
Isaiah xxxii: 20. 



64 Earthly Stories 

MISSED THE "EMPIRE STATE." 



I have never, but once, knowingly 
taken my employer's time to tell the story 
of God's iove. Shall I tell you about 
that? 

I was in Utica, N. Y., and had just 
entered my hotel at noon to get my din- 
ner and take the Empire State Express 
at 12.55 f° r Syracuse. As I went into 
the office of the hotel, a man stepped up 
to me, and taking my hand, said, "You 
don't know me?" I said he was right 
about that, when he replied, "I heard you 
speak last night, and you made me 
hungry for God. I wanted to speak to 
you then, but lacked courage. This 
morning, while in my store (he was a 
business man in Utica), I thought I had 
missed my chance of talking to you, when 
the superintendent of the mission in 
which you spoke came in, and I inquired 
where I might find you. He told me 
your hotel, and said you were going out 
on the Empire State; so of course you 
will have no time to talk to me." The 



with Heavenly Meanings. 65 

thought that my time belonged to my 
employer came to me, and if I missed that 
express, the next train would bring me 
to Syracuse too late for business that day. 
So my first impulse was to say, "I am 
sorry, but I cannot miss that train." But 
I said to the man, "Let us talk to Father 
about this," and standing there, I lifted 
my heart to God, and He told me clearly 
to give him as much time as he wanted, 
and that my employer's interests would 
be cared for. I said, "We will go up to 
my room and talk as long as God wants 
us to." We had an hour and a half there 
with God, and it was a delight to look on 
that man's face as he left the room, for 
he had found peace. I had a letter from 
him a year later, in which he told me it 
had been the happiest year of his life. 

I ought not to close without saying I 
was much surprised at the amount of 
business I did in Syracuse — ten times as 
much as I had expected. 

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His 
righteousness, and all these things shall be 
added," Matt, vi: 33. 



66 Earthly Stories 



HIS FIRST SERMON. 



A very dear friend of mine was at one 
time pastor of a small church in an Illi- 
nois town. Among the converts during 
his ministry was a young man who was 
very illiterate, but as soon as he was con- 
verted, expressed a desire to preach. My 
friend, knowing he could not put two 
sentences together properly, tried to dis- 
courage him ; but he would not be denied, 
and so my friend said to him one day, "I 
am going out next Sunday night to hold 
a meeting in a school house about four 
miles from here, and you may preach the 
sermon." 

They went; the school house was 
crowded, and the young man rose to 
preach. He said, "My text is First 
Timothy i: 15, 'This is a faithful saying, 
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sin- 
ners.' " He paused, the congregation 
expecting him to continue. Again he 
read his text, this time with a voice trem- 



with Heavenly Meanings. 6j 

bling with emotion. Another pause, and 
a longer one — tears streamed down his 
cheeks as, with choked voice, he again 
repeated the words of his text, "Christ 
Jesus came into the world to save sin- 
ners," and bursting into sobs, he sat 
down. My friend had a sermon all pre- 
pared to preach when the young man 
should break down, as he knew he would, 
but he forgot all about his sermon as he 
looked and saw a number of the congre- 
gation weeping. He simply said, "All 
who want to be saved by this Christ who 
came to save sinners, come forward and 
kneel." Seventeen persons were con- 
verted that night, and the greatest revival 
that country had ever known commenced 
as a result of that young man's attempt 
to preach. He could do no more than 
repeat his text. 

"God hath chosen the weak things of the 
world to confound the things that are mighty." 



68 Earthly Stories 



BUYING UP OPPORTUNITIES. 



There are so many ways in which we 
can approach men. I have spoken to 
hundreds on trains, in stores and in 
hotels, and have never met with a single 
rebuff. I rarely approach two men in the 
same manner. The Spirit will tell us 
how if we want to learn. I have never 
yet approached a man with a question 
abruptly spoken, such as "Are you 
saved?" or "Are you a Christian?" but I 
just enter into conversation and wait for 
His leading. Sometimes I approach the 
subject one way and sometimes in an- 
other. 

One day, coming on the train from 
Elmira to Binghamton, I "set my trap," 
and a young man came and sat by my 
side. I saw his railway ticket read "Wav- 
erly, N. Y.," and consulting my time 
table, saw it was twenty-six minutes to 
Waverly. Lifting my heart to God, I 
said, "Lord, I have only twenty-six min- 
utes in which to touch this man's life; 



with Heavenly Meanings. 69 

give me the message quickly." I had 
my railroad ticket in a little Testament 
that I always carry, and the conductor 
coming through almost immediately, I 
held the book toward my companion as 
I opened it to take out my ticket, and I 
said, "That's a queer sort of a pocket 
hook for a travelling salesman to have, 
isn't it?" "Yes," he replied; and I said, 
"I haven't always carried that kind." He 
said, "I guess trouble drove you to it." 
I said, "Yes, it did, and I guess God can't 
do much with most of us unless He sends 
trouble." Looking into his face, I saw 
his eyes were red, as though he had been 
weeping, and I said, "My friend, what's 
your trouble going to do for you?" He 
told me of his trouble; it was indeed sore 
trouble, and I did not wonder he had 
been weeping. I asked him if he knew 
God as a comforter, and he said, "No." 
For about twenty minutes I had the de- 
lightful privilege of pouring into his ear 
the old, old story — the story that seems 
"each time I tell it more wonderfully 
sweet;" and when he left the train at 



yo Earthly Stories 

Waverly, I asked God's blessing upon 
our meeting, and set my trap for the next 
one. 

"That we may be able to comfort them 
which are in any trouble, by the comfort 
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of 
God," 2 Cor. i: 4. 



with Heavenly Meanings. Ji 

THE GOLDEN RULE ON FIRST 
OF APRIL. 



On the morning of April 1st some 
years ago, my nine-year-old daughter, 
sitting at the breakfast table, said to me, 
"I'm going to catch a lot of girls to-day ; 
I've studied up a whole lot of tricks; but 
I hope no one will catch me." 

I said, "Don't you remember, darling, 
what papa told you about the Golden 
Rule, 'Do unto others,' etc.? And if you 
don't want them to catch you, ought you 
to catch them?" That seemed a puzzler 
to her, and she sat still a minute or so, 
and then said, "Say, papa, I don't believe 
Jesus meant the Golden Rule for the ist 
day of April." 

Paul said, "Rejoice in the Lord always, 
and again I say, rejoice." Some Chris- 
tians seem to take that injunction about 
as my daughter took the Golden Rule, 
and say, "I don't believe Paul meant to 
rejoice when your rent isn't paid and 
when you are out of a position." 

"Rejoice evermore," I Thess. v: 16. 



72 Earthly Stories 

"THEY'RE ALL MINE/ 5 



They tell a story of Miphradates. He 
was in the habit of presenting to any one 
that pleased him in any way a very beau- 
tiful horse. Shortly after reaching home, 
the one who had received this favor 
would see, tied outside his gate, the pre- 
sent. One day a musician played before 
him with such skill that he found in addi- 
tion to the horse a complete attire of fine 
clothing. Dressing himself with this 
finery, the musician mounted the horse 
and rode through the town, shouting at 
the top of his voice, "They're all mine! 
They're all mine!" 

I thought I might have acted some- 
thing like this one evening last summer. 
While visiting some relatives in a nearby 
city, I talked of the joy I had in Christ, 
of the wealth of love He had poured into 
my soul, and when a member of the 
household was about to show me to my 
room, he said, calling me familiarly by 
my first name, "Do you know who you 
have reminded me of to-night?" and con- 



with Heavenly Meanings. 73 

tinued, "When I was a boy, I used to 
visit the lunatic asylum; there was a man 
there who thought he owned the whole 
of the United States — he was sure of ail 
that lay South of the Potomac." 

The next morning he started to apolo- 
gize, when I stopped him by begging 
him not to, as I was glad I had impressed 
him with the fact that I felt rich. He 
hath indeed "clothed me with broidered 
work, and shod me with badger's skin, 
and girded me about with fine linen, and 
covered me with silk. He has decked 
me with ornaments and put bracelets on 
my wrists and a chain on my neck and a 
crown on my head." 

The house I live in has "foundations 
of sapphires ; windows of agates ; gates of 
carbuncles; all its borders are pleasant 
stones;" located in a land of water brooks, 
"where fountains spring from valley and 
hills, a land of wheat and barley and 
vines and fig trees and pomegranates." 
I felt like shouting more and more, like 
this favored one of Miphradates, the king, 
"They're all mine! They're all mine!" 



74 Earthly Stories 



JESUS A "WAY-SHOWER.' 



"Jesus a way-shower," say the Chris- 
tian Scientists. One day in Lawrence, 
Mass., one of the buyers with whom I 
have to do, who knew, as all the rest of 
them do, that I am a Christian, told me 
he had something better for me. 

I asked him what he had, and he said 
he was interested in Christian Science. I 
asked him what their doctrine was, and 
he tried to tell me; but I must confess 
that his definitions seemed so vague that 
I knew little more when he finished than 
when he began. 

Standing there, somewhat perplexed, 
I wondered how I could know of what 
spirit this, then to me, new doctrine was. 
I thought a good test would be to ask 
him what they thought of Christ. I did 
so, and he replied, "We take Him as a 
'Way-shower.' " " 'Way-shower?' " I re- 
peated; "that's a new name for Jesus, 
isn't it? 'Way-shower?' One who shows 



with Heavenly Meanings. 75 

the way? Why, He Himself said, 'I am 
the way.' " 

I repeated the words over and over, 
and said, "I don't think you have any- 
thing better for me. This name you give 
Him doesn't have the grandeur and ful- 
ness in it that those have by which I am 
accustomed to call Him. 'His name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 
and the Prince of Peace.' It isn't as 
sweet as 'Lily of the Valley' or 'Rose of 
Sharon;' it certainly hasn't the strength 
in it that the 'Lion of the tribe of Judah' 
has, and I don't think I will change what 
I have for what you offer, for I am afraid 
of any system of belief that minimizes the 
character or name of Jesus. For 'He is 
before all things, and by Him all things 
consist.' He is 'as the light of the morn- 
ing when the sun riseth, even as a morn- 
ing without clouds, and as the tender 
grass springing up by the clear shining 
after rain.' 'All His garments smell of 
myrrh and aloes and cassia out of ivory 
palaces.' " 



y6 Earthly Stories 

"Some take Him a creature to be, 

A man, or an angel at most, 
Sure these have not feelings like me, 

So wretched and ruined and lost! 
If asked what of Jesus / think, 

Although my best thoughts are but small, 
I say, He's my meat and my drink, 

My Saviour from sin and its thrall, 
My hope from beginning to end, 

My Lord and my life and my all." 



Riding on a train one gloomy day in 
winter a short time after my conversation 
noted above, I sat thinking of what my 
friend had said; of how he had told me 
there was no such thing as forgiveness of 
sin, that no one could pay for another's 
transgression, and that according to the 
Christian Scientists' belief, I must work 
out my salvation, and the thought came 
to me : What if by some possibility these 
people are right? No one can pay my 
debt? My sins cannot be forgiven? 
Well, I am in an awful condition, then, 
for I have sinned as few men have, and 
if they cannot be forgiven, I am undone. 
My debts have piled mountain high, and 
every effort to pay them only increases 
the obligation. 



with Heavenly Meanings. JJ 

A temporary gloom came over my 
heart; the day seemed darker; the gloom 
increased until it was almost a horror, 
and I leaned my head back on my seat, 
and closing my eyes, I thought of Cal- 
vary. I saw One extended on the cross; 
I heard Him say, "I was wounded for 
your transgressions and bruised for your 
iniquity," and over my disturbed soul 
came peace. 

One Christian Scientist told me, in 
answer to my question, "Why did Jesus 
die?" that He died simply to show a little 
later that He had power to break the 
bonds of death. His death means more 
than that to me, for "without the shed- 
ding of blood there is no remission." 

"He gave His life a ransom for many." 



78 Earthly Stories 



THE WESTERN UNION TIME 
BALL. 



I frequently attend the John Street 
Noon Day Meeting, and when I go down 
just a little before twelve, I see men 
standing along Broadway and on the 
nearby corners, with their watches in 
their hands and their eyes upturned all in 
one direction. I follow the direction of 
their gaze, and see the "time ball" on the 
Western Union Telegraph Building. 
Every day at noon exactly an electric 
current is sent from Washington, D. C, 
causing this ball to drop, and these men 
are waiting that event, in order that they 
may know whether or not their watches 
are correct as to time. 

I have never seen one of these men 
looking at his neighbor's watch, to com- 
pare his with it; I have never seen them 
looking, at the noon hour, into the jew- 
elers' windows to learn the time from the 
clocks there, but every eye is turned 



•with Heavenly Meanings. 79 

towards that ball on the staff, which al- 
ways falls at the exact second. 

And the lesson is obvious. Don't look 
at even the best man. We shall never 
find one who is in perfect time always. 
Look to Jesus. 

Some men are not keeping any sort of 
time, but are like those dummy clocks 
in the railroad stations, whose wooden 
hands are turned to show what time the 
next train is to start. A friend of mine 
was in the Flatbush Avenue station a 
short time since, and saw an old lady 
eyeing a number of these clocks. After 
she had finished her inspection, he heard 
her say, "Well, I declare, there hain't no 
two of 'em alike, and I don't believe a 
single one of them is right." 

The closest observer of human nature 
will inevitably reach the same conclusion, 
"They are none of them right." Jesus 
is always right, hallelujah! 

"That in all things He might have pre- 
eminence," Col. i: 18. 



8o Earthly Stories 



"I WANT MAMMA!" 



When one of my children was about 
two years old, her mother went out to 
spend the evening, leaving the little one, 
asleep, in my charge. In a few minutes 
she awoke, and not seeing her mother, 
she began crying for her. "I want 
mamma, I want mamma." I tried to 
quiet her with toys that had at other 
times amused her, but she would not be 
silenced. That cry, "I want mamma," 
continued until her mother came home, 
then she nestled down in her arms and 
went to sleep. 

The ambitions of life, the allurements 
of wealth and position, are ofttimes pre- 
sented to me, but my heart cries out, "I 
want Jesus." 

"Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, 
where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy 
flock to rest at noon," Song of Solomon i: 7. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 81 



"THE WATER GETS FRESHER." 



I have had occasion to speak frequently 
in a little church in Long Island, and at 
the close of one of the evening services 
one of my hearers came to me and said, 
"I can't understand one thing about your 
talks — you have spoken here at least 
forty times, each time about God's love, 
and the subject seems new and fresh 
still. Fresher, indeed, than when I first 
heard you." I said in reply, "In the city 
in which I live the water supplied by the 
city is not good. Near our house there 
is a pump, and I have noticed on warm 
days an almost continuous stream of chil- 
dren going with their vessels to that 
pump — my children among the rest. 
The water is always cool and sweet at 
such times. I said one day, T wonder 
the woman who owns that pump does not 
object to so many running to it for wa- 
ter.' What I heard in reply was this, 
'She said she was glad to have us come 
and pump as much as we pleased, for the 



82 Earthly Stories 

more water we pumped out, the fresher 
and sweeter was the water for her own 
use/ It's that way with God's love, it 
'seems each time I tell it more wonder- 
fully sweet/ " 

"Prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord 
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows 
of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that 
there shall not be room enough to receive it/' 
Malachi iii: 10. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 83 



AFRAID OF HIS FATHER. 



Our happiness is added to or detracted 
from by our differing views of God's 
character. 

When I was a boy, I had for a play- 
mate a boy whose father was not the 
kindliest man I ever knew. One day I 
went up to his house to play with him, 
and when he came out into the yard cry- 
ing, I said, "What's the matter, Jim?" 
His answer was, "I wish I was not four 
years old yet, or over twenty-one." I 
said, "Why?" His reply was, "If I wasn't 
four years old, my father wouldn't whip 
me, and if I was over twenty-one, he 
wouldn't dare to." His life was rilled 
with misery because he was afraid of his 
father. Mine was free from this sort of 
thing, because my father was always kind. 

I have known men and women who 
seemed in constant dread of God, and 
whose lives were miserable in conse- 
quence. He wants us to know Him as 



84 Earthly Stories 

more tender than any earthly father. 
Don't be afraid of Father. 

"I have sworn that I would not be wroth 
with thee, nor rebuke thee," Isaiah liv: 9. 

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the 
Lord pitieth them that fear Him." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 85 



"THE HALF HAS NOT BEEN 
TOLD." 



My favorite theme is the love of God. 
Some of my friends have criticised me for 
giving, they say, undue prominence to 
this subject, saying that I should some- 
times talk of something else. 

One Saturday night, in Worcester, 
Mass., I went out with the Salvation 
Army and spoke of God's love; on Sun- 
day morning I went out again and spoke 
on the same subject; in the afternoon I 
took the same text. In the evening, as 
I was walking down from my hotel to 
the barracks, I said to myself, "I'll talk 
of something else to-night. I have 
talked three times now on the same sub- 
ject and on the same street corner. I'll 
change my subject to-night." 

We gathered round the "penitent 
form," as the custom is in the Army, and 
after a prayer, some one started a chorus, 
and it was the old familiar one, "The 
half has never yet been told of love 



86 Earthly Stories 

so full and free," and I said to myself, 
"Well, if it hasn't half been told, I'll go 
out and try it once more," and I've been 
trying ever since to tell of a love that is 
so deep and high that a life-long ministry 
could only touch the fringe of it. 

"Exceeding abundantly above all we can 
ask or think." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 87 



THE ATTIC ROOM. 



When a boy, I lived in the country, in 
a house built (the frame at least) of heavy 
hewn timber. My sleeping room was 
the old attic, and I well remember how, 
on stormy nights, when the wind howled 
and the storm beat, I'd lie looking up at 
those old rafters and say, The storm can't 
hurt me. No storm ever was strong 
enough to reach me through those great 
timbers. And I nestled under the great 
"comfortables" and felt safe and happy. 
I used to like the rough nights in the old 
attic. 

Since then I have met many a storm in 
life and have nestled in God's arms and 
felt safe, and have almost enjoyed the 
howling of the gale, for I knew that the 
"eternal God was my refuge." 



Earthly Stories 



SNOW ON THE STAIRS. 



When a boy I lived in the country. 
The house in which I lived was rather 
loosely put together, though made of 
heavy timber. On winter nights, the 
snow would sift through the roof and 
sometimes cover the stairs that led up to 
my room in the attic. 

It was the custom of us children to 
prepare for bed by the fire down stairs 
and then run up stairs quickly. In mod- 
erate weather we did this, but on cold 
nights, when the snow was on the stairs, 
I remember how my father would take 
me up in his arms, and carrying me up to 
my room, would tuck me snugly in bed. 

God is near us when all is prosperity 
and when all is sunshine in our lives; but 
when sorrows and difficulties come, when 
the "snow is on the stairs," with what 
peculiar tenderness does He then care for 
us. How He stoops down and, lifting 



with Heavenly Meanings. 89 

us up in His mighty arms, draws us close 

to His heart of love. 

"The eternal God is our refuge, and under- 
neath are the everlasting arms," Deut xxxiii: 
27. 



go Earthly Stories 



EVERLASTING ARMS. 



When my children were quite small, on 
my return from a trip they would climb 
up into my lap. They would get up 
somehow, and they knew they were wel- 
come. One would climb over the back 
of the chair, the smallest would look up 
into my face and say, "Take me, too, 
papa." 

In talking to young people, I have 
often urged them to climb up into God's 
arms, telling them He was ever ready to 
fold them in His arms and close to His 
heart. To enforce the truth, I have often 
used the illustration of my children's 
climbing into my lap, till one day I read, 
"Underneath are the everlasting arms," 
and I realized we did not have to climb 
at all, but just sink down into His dear 
embrace. 

"He shall gather the lambs with His arms 
and carry them in His bosom," Isaiah xl: n. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 91 



REACHING THE SUMMIT. 



One day, while on my vacation in the 
White Mountains, I started to climb Mt. 
Jefferson. After a struggle lasting about 
an hour, I saw above me what I supposed 
to be the summit of the mountain. I 
climbed on, reached the point, only to 
find it was a table land and that beyond 
and above me was another height. "That 
surely is the top," I said, and after an- 
other hour's toiling, I gained the desired 
place, only to find myself disappointed 
again, for reaching out above me was still 
another height. It was only after hours 
of weary toiling I finally reached the goal. 

Reading the thirteenth chapter of First 
Corinthians, I came to the words, "Love 
is not easily provoked," and I climbed 
toward that height; reaching it I believed 
when it took a good deal to get me angry. 
Then I found that in the original no such 
word as "easily" appeared; and I saw I 
was only on a table land, with the summit 
still above me. 



92 Earthly Stories 

Now, shall I climb to greater heights, 
as did those men I saw one very hot 
August day wearily ascending the six 
hundred steps to reach the top of the 
Washington monument, Washington, 
D. C, or shall I do as I did then, take 
the elevator and be carried to the top? 

Shall I say, "We will ride upon the 
swift," or realizing that "in quietness and 
confidence" is my strength, shall I not 
better "mount up with wings as eagles?" 



with Heavenly Meanings. 93 

"LET'S NESTLE." 



God wants us to nestle in His love, as 
a child nestles in the arms of its mother. 
Zephaniah says, "He will rejoice over 
thee with joy, He will rest in His love, 
He will joy over thee with singing." 
What a picture that is. 

Once, while on one of my trips through 
the Eastern States, I stopped at Thomas- 
ton, Conn., where my daughter had been 
spending a long vacation for her health. 
I entered the room where she was sitting, 
unannounced, and when she saw me, she 
ran to me, threw herself in my arms, cry- 
ing, "Papa! papa!" while tears of joy ran 
down her face. I held her close, and 
thought how precious it was to have such 
a daughter and have her love me so. 

Three days after this, I was in New 
Bedford, Mass. It was a stormy day. I 
finished business early in the afternoon 
and went to my hotel room. Kneeling, 
I lifted my face to Him and said over and 
over again, "I love Thee! I love Thee!" 



94 Earthly Stories 

and then I said, "Is it anything to Thee, 
great Master of the universe, that a little 
one like me comes and tells Thee he 
loves Thee?" He brought to my mind 
the meeting with my daughter and said, 
"Was that anything to you?" And I 
said, "Anything? Why, it was one of 
the sweetest experiences of my life," and 
then He told me that what that had been 
to me, this was to Him. Then He began 
telling me of His love to me, until I had 
to stop talking of mine to Him, and I 
walked the floor with tears running down 
my face as I prayed Him to teach me 
how to tell more sweetly the "wonderful 
story of love." 

"Behold what manner of love the Father 
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be 
called the sons of God," i John iii: i. 

"Because he hath set his love upon Me, 
therefore will I deliver him: I will set him 
on high because he hath known My name," 
Psalm xci: 14. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 95 

THE PERFUMED CORK. 



One day a friend of mine, to whom I 
was talking, took from his vest pocket 
a cork, such as is used in small bottles, 
and asked me to smell it. I did, and the 
most beautiful odor of roses greeted my 
nostrils. He said, 'That cork has not 
touched liquid for years. Fourteen years 
ago I was in the perfumery business, as 
travelling salesman, and I carried a bottle 
of attar of roses, in which was this cork; 
I have carried it ever since, changing it 
from the old to the new suit of clothes 
as I make the change, and to-day it 
smells as sweetly of roses as when I first 
put it in my pocket." 

Every time I open the precious Word 
of God, I get the odor of love — just as 
sweet now as when the holy men of old 
wrote those precious verses. 

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to- 
day, and forever." 



96 Earthly Stories 



LOVE CONSTRAINETH. 



Riding through Pennsylvania one day, 
I was thinking whether I had not better 
talk less of love and more of the terrors 
of the law, when I heard the brakeman 
cry, "Next stop, Johnstown." I recalled, 
of course, immediately the awful flood 
that a few years before had wrought such 
devastation in that town, which had since 
been rebuilt. I said, surely that town 
ought to be a virtuous one, after such a 
visitation of judgment and terror. As 
the train neared the city, I looked out 
in the fields, and there, on a large adver- 
tising board, were the words in large let- 
ters, "Buy your whiskies at Jones's dis- 
tillery, Johnstown, Pa.," and I decided to 
continue to talk of love. 

"The goodness of God leadeth thee to re- 
pentance," Romans ii: 4. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 97 

"MAMMA'S HERE, DARLING." 



A man told me once of how his little 
five-year-old boy asked his mother if he 
might go out to play in front of the 
house. She gave her consent, but told 
him plainly not to go away from the 
front, not to go up nor down the street. 

She watched him, and he had been out 
only a few minutes when she saw him 
start to go down the street. Her first 
impulse was to follow him, then she de- 
cided that she would see where the little 
fellow would go ; so slipping out into the 
street, she followed him at a distance. 
He first went down the street two or 
three blocks, then turned a corner, went 
two or three blocks away, turned down 
an alley, and then finding that everything 
looked strange, he stopped. His mother, 
still unseen by him, drew closer, and just 
then he realized that he was away from 
home and didn't know the way back. 
Tears began to come in his eyes and he 
cried out, "I'se lost, I'se lost," when the 



98 Earthly Stories 

mother, right by his side now, clasped 
him in her arms and said, "No, darling, 
you're not lost. Mamma's here." 

Down through this street and that 
alley God has followed us when we have 
wandered away from Him, followed some 
of us far. Would we had realized sooner 
that we were lost; but just as soon as we 
came to ourselves, before our lips had 
time to frame the words, His loving arms 
have been about us. 

"I am a Shepherd out on the mountain 
seeking the sheep where they have been 
scattered in the cloudy and dark day." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 99 



DRIFTING APART. 



I was much impressed, while reading 
a poem by the late Jean Ingelow, enti- 
tled, "Divided." It is a story of two 
lovers walking through a meadow on a 
beautiful summer afternoon. They spy 
a ribbon-like streak of green running 
through the duller sod about it, and 
stooping down, they find the lighter 
green caused by a little stream of water 
trickling its way across the meadow. 
Gaily, hand in hand, one on either side 
the little streamlet, they walk and talk. 

The stream widens so that they have to 
let go of hands, but still chatting, they 
continue their walk, until they have to 
call quite loudly as one says to the other, 
"Come to me now, for the west is burn- 
ing; come ere it darkens." But the 
stream is too wide now, and the sad cry 
comes back, "I may not cross." On and 
on they go. They cannot speak now, but 
seeing each other still they go, until the 
stream, grown deep and wide, so the 

Lofd 



ioo Earthly Stories 

ships ride at anchor on its' swift tide, and 
each looks to the other as mere specks in 
the distance, and finally out of sight alto- 
gether, naught remains but the memory 
of the mute farewell each had waved to 
the other across the ever widening 
stream. 

As I read it, I thought of how I had 
wandered in just that way from my Sa- 
viour. Neglect of secret prayer and the 
reading of His Word; it only seemed a 
ribbon of grass that separated us, then. 
As near as I can remember, the first out- 
ward evidence that I was walking on, 
separated a little from the Lord, was 
attending the theatre to see one of the 
so-called religious plays. Oh! how 
many are drifting away from God on that 
line — the "Way Down East," the "Old 
Homestead," "Quo Vadis," and "Sign of 
the Cross." The stream is widening 
now, and still we can talk across. It's 
difficult, now, however. On and on we 
go, until we find that we are finally out 
of sight of our Master. But I am glad 
the illustration does not hold good in its 



zvith Heavenly Meanings. 101 

issue. For over the widest seas Jesus 
comes walking upon the billows as of old, 
and restores His wandering child to 
peace and fellowship. His love spans the 
great expanse of our sin and disobedi- 
ence and the moment we call He answers. 

"I will heal their backslidings, I will love 
them freely, for Mine anger is turned away/' 
Hosea xiv: I. 



Earthly Stories 



STEAM ENOUGH TO START 
WITH. 



Coming from Buffalo to Elmira one 
night on the D., L. & W. R. R., I noticed 
that the only occupant of the car besides 
myself was the brakeman, and not caring 
to miss such an opportunity to speak a 
word in season, I went over and engaged 
him in conversation. 

He told me, as so many have, that the 
chief reason for his not becoming a Chris- 
tian w r as that he was afraid he wouldn't 
hold out. 

I said to him, "Suppose before I got 
on this train at Buffalo to-night I had 
gone to the engineer and said to him, 
'Have you got steam enough in that 
boiler to take this train to Elmira?' and 
when he said, as he certainly would, 
'No,' I had said, Well, I'll wait right here 
in the station until I find an engine which 
has enough steam in the boiler to take 
me clear through,' would he not have 
called me silly? Would he not probably 



with Heavenly Meanings. 103 

have said, 'You get on the train. We've 
got enough steam to start with, and will 
get more on the way down the road.' " 

I told him that all he needed to start 
with was a desire to know Christ. "All 
the fitness He requires is to feel your 
need of Him." 

"He that hath begun a good work in you 
will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ." 



104 Earthly Stories 

ON THE WRONG BOAT. 



Some years ago I called on a man who 
had been my companion in sin, and who, 
after my conversion, told me very em- 
phatically that I must never talk salvation 
to him. I knew he was not in good 
health, and so disobeying, or, rather, dis- 
regarding his command, I went to see 
him. I found that he had not changed, 
except, perhaps, for the worse, and spent 
about a half hour with him, urging him 
to accept Christ. I told him how pre- 
cious He was to me; how He had 
changed my life and made me glad; but 
was met with coarse language and vile 
remarks, that made me shudder. 

Near the close of my visit, he said, 
"You'll have a chance to attend a first 
class funeral soon, for I don't feel a bit 
good." I said, "Well, after the funeral, 
what?" He replied, "Well, I'll take my 
chances." I said with all the earnest- 
ness of which I was capable, "Can't you 
see you wouldn't be happy in heaven? 
You have not enjoyed my talk this morn- 



with Heavenly Meanings. 105 

ing; I certainly have had a hard struggle 
to stay and listen to your foul conversa- 
tion; you would not be happy in heaven; 
it would be a hell to you, and I should 
not want to be in a place where for all 
eternity I might be compelled to listen 
to talk like I have heard this morning. 
You know that nothing entereth that city 
that defileth, and your only hope of 
cleansing is through the blood of Jesus, 
which you reject." 

Continuing, I told him the following : 
One day two excursions were to start 
from the same dock in Jersey City — one 
a political association, the other the Sun- 
day schools of a certain district of the 
city. As the political party were to sail 
first, their boat was anchored outside of 
the one that was to carry the Sunday 
schools, which boat was fastened to the 
dock and across whose decks the politi- 
cians had to pass to reach their vessel. 

The political party had started up the 
river, when a belated politician came run- 
ning down the dock and boarded the boat 
on which the Sunday school scholars 
were. Just then the line was cast off and 



io6 Earthly Stories 

away they went. The scholars com- 
menced singing one of the songs they 
had learned in their schools when the 
surprised politician asked one of the deck 
hands what excursion he was on. "The 
Sunday school excursion," was the reply. 
"Why," said the politician, "I thought 

the D Association was to sail from 

the Morris Street Dock this morning." 
"So they were and so they did," said the 
deck hand. "They sailed up the river 
fifteen minutes ago." 

The man then asked how far they were 
going, and finding it was a four hours' 
sail, went to the captain and offered him 
fifty dollars if he would put in at some 
New York City dock and let him get off. 
"For," said he, "I can't stand this crowd 
and this singing for four hours." 

If he couldn't stand such company four 
hours, how can one who has never been 
born from above expect to enjoy the 
company of the redeemed through count- 
less ages? 

"Except ye be converted, ye shall in no 
wise enter the kingdom of heaven." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 107 



"I CAN'T ANSWER YES.' 



I read as an item of news in a daily 
paper, that the Jos. Medill Fresh Air 
Fund Society of Chicago, were about to 
take a number of the poor children of 
Chicago into the country for a two weeks' 
outing. They could not, of course, take 
all who wished to go, and desiring to take 
those who most needed the trip, they 
sought to discover these by giving each of 
the boys and girls who came in response 
to the call a slip of paper, on which were 
printed questions to be answered with a 
"Yes," or "No." The following were 
some of the questions: "Have you ever 
been in the country?" "Have you ever 
seen daisies growing in the fields?" etc., 
etc. 

One little girl of about ten years was 
seen to be crying bitterly. On being 
asked the cause, she said, with choked 
voice, "I can't go, for I can't answer 
'Yes' to a single question." She thought 
it was a sort of examination, where she 



108 Earthly Stories 

would have to have a certain per cent, in 
order to pass. She was quickly informed 
that, she was one who was sure to be 
taken. She was just the one they were 
looking for. 

And I thought that little girl was in 
just the condition we all must be in when 
we come to Jesus for salvation. He asks, 
"Have you anything to commend your- 
self?" and until we feel that we are utterly 
undone and cannot answer "Yes" to any 
question as to our merit, we are not in 
a place where He can reach down and 
save us. But when in despair on account 
of our utter unworthiness, we creep to 
His feet, how gladly He saves us. 

"Not by works of righteousness which we 
have done, but according to His mercy He 
saved," Titus iii: 5. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 109 



THE AGNOSTICS VOYAGE. 



Years ago I read a portion of one of 
Ingersoll's lectures. It ran something like 
this, "I am on a voyage; I do not know 
from what port I sailed, I do not know 
to what port I am going. I do not know 
the captain, but I do know some of the 
crew, and with them I'll have a good 
time. If the voyage ends in disaster, I 
go down with the rest. If it ends in some 
pleasant clime, I'll be there ready to en- 
joy it with the others." 

One day, riding from St. Louis to 
Terre Haute, I sat in the train with my 
Bible opened in my lap, and the above 
extract came into my mind, and a feeling 
of pity into my heart for this man. I, too, 
am on a voyage, I thought, and some- 
times it seems a stormy one, but I read of 
One who is "an hiding place from the 
wind and a covert from the tempest." 

I know my Captain: "He was made 
perfect through suffering." I know 
some of the crew, and in fellowship with 



no Earthly Stories 

them I'll have a better time than the ag- 
nostic can possibly have with his surface 
friendships. Moreover, I know the port 
to which I am going, for I hear my Cap- 
tain, who rose victorious over death, 
saying, "I go to prepare a place for you." 
I have also stood by the bedside of a de- 
parting friend, and heard her say, "It's 
all blessedness and peace down by the 
river." Yes, I know the port to which 
I am going and am surer of reaching it 
than I am my earthly home in Jersey City 
when this trip shall have ended, for some- 
thing may have destroyed that home, but 
my heavenly "inheritance is undefiled and 
fadeth not away." 

I was sure I did not envy any one 
v/ho had so many "didn't knows" in such 
a short description of his belief. 

"Father, I will that they also whom Thott 
hast, given Me be with Me where I am, that 
they may behold My glory." 



with Heavenly Meanings. 



BEYOND THE GATE. 



One beautiful summer day I was in a 
small town on Long Island, where I had 
gone to speak for a congregation. Be- 
tween the morning and afternoon ser- 
vices, I walked out through the woods, 
that I might have a talk with my Father. 

I came to a delightful spot and saw, 
sitting on a rustic bench beside a trout 
pond, a very old man. The thought 
came that I could not let an opportunity 
pass to say a word for the Master, espe- 
cially as this man must so soon, in all 
human possibility, go the long journey. 

I entered into conversation with him 
and found that he had been a Christian 
for forty years, but he said, "I don't want 
to die." I said, "Do you dread it?" He 
said, "Well, I wouldn't like to say I dread 
it, but, then, one cannot know what is 
beyond this life, you know." 

I said, "I don't know that we can know 
what is beyond, but I am minded to tell 
you a story I read a short time ago. A 



ii2 Earthly Stories 

man who was travelling on a fast express 
train was taken suddenly and seriously ill. 
The conductor thought it would not be 
well to take his passenger to the next 
city his tram was scheduled to stop at; 
so the train was stopped at a small way 
station, the man was carried into the 
waiting room, and a physician was sum- 
moned. 

"When the doctor had restored the man 
to consciousness, his patient said to him, 
'Doctor, I suppose I will die in one of 
these spells?' 'Quite likely,' said the 
doctor; 'but you need not dread that, 
it is simply going beyond the gate.' 
'That's what I dread,' replied the man; 
'don't you dread it?' 'No,' answered 
the physician, T am a Christian.' 'But/ 
replied the man, 'You can't know what's 
beyond, and I should think any man 
would dread that event.' To which re- 
mark the Christian replied, 'My friend, 
since you have recovered consciousness, 
you have heard a dog outside the door, 
scratching and whining to get in, haven't 
you?' 'Yes/ said the man. 'Well,' con- 



with Heavenly Meanings. 113 

tinued the doctor, 'that's my dog. I 
brought him with me from my home; 
he has never been inside this station, and 
he is ignorant of what is in here; but he 
saw his master enter, and he is anxious to 
get in. I do not know just what I shall 
see beyond the gate; but I know my Sa- 
viour entered there and is sitting as my 
advocate and friend, and I am anxious to 
go through.' " 

The old man listened intently to my 
story, and thanked me for it, saying that 
death, or what we call death, would look 
different to him now. 

"To die is gain." "To depart and be with 
Christ is far better," Phil, i: 21, 23. 



ii4 Earthly Stories 



MAMMOTH CAVE, BOTTOMLESS 
PIT. 



While visiting Mammoth Cave, the 
guide took me to the side of the main 
cavern, and told me to look through a 
natural window that was formed there, 
and he would show me the "bottomless 
pit." 

I saw by the feeble light of his lantern 
a chasm about ten feet wide at the top, 
and which seemed to grow narrower as it 
descended. The guide took from a sort 
of bag he carried with him a piece of 
paper that had been saturated with coal 
oil ; lighting it, he threw it into the chasm. 
Down, down it went, and I leaned over 
to watch it as it descended, until it went 
out of sight. He then threw a large 
stone against the opposite side of the 
gulf. It bounded from side to side as it 
went down, down; the sound growing 
fainter and fainter as we strained our ears 
to listen, but there was no indication that 
it ever reached the bottom. The guide 



with Heavenly Meanings. 115 

told me no one had ever been able to 
discover the bottom of that awful gulf. 

Years ago I read Ingersoll's oration at 
the grave of his brother. It ran some- 
thing like this: "Life is a narrow space 
between the barren peaks of two eter- 
nities; our beloved ones go from our ken; 
we call after them and receive no answer, 
save the despairing echo of our cry." 

I thought as I read it of that night in 
Mammoth Cave, of my listening at the 
window to the sound of the stone going 
down, down into that black gulf, and I 
felt a pity for this man whose loved one 
had gone away into the unknown. I 
thought we all would have the same sad 
experience were it not for the One who 
conquered death, and whose resurrection 
gives us power to say, "O death, where 
is thy sting; O grave, where is thy vic- 
tory?" And over my heart rolled a wave 
of thanksgiving to Him who at such 
times turns our sorrow into hope with the 
words, "I am the resurrection and the 
life." 



n6 Earthly Stories 



"NEXT STATION HEAVEN." 



Riding on the New York Central R. R. 
one day, I leaned my head on the cushion 
of the seat and dozed; but was suddenly 
awakened by the voice of the brakeman, 
who shouted, "Next station Utica." And 
this thought came, bringing much com- 
fort : "Some day, if the Lord tarry, in the 
semi-consciousness that precedes death I 
shall hear the voice of my Beloved say- 
ing, 'Next station Heaven,' and I shall go 
to be with Him forever!" 

"So shall we ever be with the Lord," 
i Thess. iv: 17. 



with Heavenly Meanings. 117 



"PAPA'S COMING HOME." 



Talking one day with a dear Christian 
friend on the subject of the Lord's com- 
ing, she said, "I don't see the use of 
talking about His coming. I hope to be 
ready when He comes, but I talk very 
little about it. I don't see why we 
should." I replied, "When on one of 
my long trips, I write to my wife saying 
I will be home the following Saturday, 
she tells me the children say the first 
thing in the morning, 'Papa's coming 
home on Saturday,' and the last thing at 
night, 'Papa's coming home Saturday.' 
It isn't important that they should talk 
of it, but they do it because they delight 
to talk and think of my home coming." 

Christians everywhere are talking more 
and more about His coming, and as I 
hear them in Manchester and Boston, in 
Chicago and St. Louis, saying, "J esus is 



n8 Earthly Stories 

coming soon," my heart leaps for joy; I 
want to see Him — don't you? 

"Then we which are alive and remain shall 
be caught up together with them in the clouds 
to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we 
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort 
one another with these words," i Thess. xvii: 18. 



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